Garlic Mustard

 About

In many locations in the eastern and central U.S. This plant has replaced most of the native flora.
  • Invades high quality upland and floodplain forests and savannas, as well as disturbed areas, such as yards and roadsides. It is sometimes found in full sun, though most often grows in areas with some shade, and does not do well in acidic soils.
  • Native herbaceous cover has been shown to decline at sites invaded by garlic mustard.
  • Garlic mustard exudes antifungal chemicals into the soil that disrupt associations between mycorrhizal fungi and native plants, suppressing native plant growth.
We have discovered patches of this plant and have moved quickly to eradicate. We need the public's help to find and remove this plant before it can overtake an area.

If Found

If you can, take a photo or record GPS coordinates. Do not bring the plant to the office. Please let us know where you found this and we will send someone to confirm.

Find

Starting in April look for the small white flowers on 1ft to 2ft tall plants. We start looking early to remove the plant before seed is set. Each plant releases hundreds of seeds which spread quickly.

Remove

A large patch that was discovered at Hartman in 2012. It took three years to get this under control. The plant should not be transported because this raises the possibility of further spreading seed.

Return

We spend the next two years or more returning to the same location after the last plant has been removed to be certain the seed bank has been exhausted.